Every Advent, I gather all our Christmas books and place them in a large basket in the living room. For quiet afternoons or evenings, it is nice to not have to go searching for that "certain" Christmas book that seems to make this holiday more complete. Through the years, I've collected various ones, from craft idea books to children's and short stories, to novels. I thought I'd share some of our family's collection. There may be some you would like to share and I invite you to in the comments.
I'll begin with books geared toward children, with the reminder of what C.S. Lewis said about children's books.
A children's story that can only be enjoyed by children is not a good children's story in the slightest.
The first was like finding a treasure. It is a collection of stories Tolkien wrote for his children as Father Christmas over many years, complete with his illustrations. It is
I have a hardback version from 1995, which presents his letters individually to be removed from envelops pasted in the book, very much like the Jolly Postman books. Like I said, a real treasure.
Speaking of the Jolly Postman, there is
This book is great fun and quite clever as it incorporates characters from beloved fairy tales.
Another children's book which is short but quite sweet is
For an older child, there is
Of course we had to have this! In fact, I believe we were given two when our eldest daughter, Emma, was still quite young.
This is a good one with a bit of tension.
A couple of older ones that are quite enjoyable are
and
There are the short stories of George MacDonald
And Celtic short stories
Of course there's Dickens with
and the sweet
Here's one about getting the great Saint Nicholas right.
There are of course picture books which tell of the whole reason for Christmas.
and
Of course, I would highly recommend reading about the Nativity right out of the Gospel of Luke.
Advent is a time to prepare for the coming of Christ and it is appropriate that we think of these things when we recall and celebrate his incarnation. One of the ways to do this is to prepare and light an Advent wreath. A very helpful book to use in this preparation is
Well, though not a complete list of our Christmas books, this is a start. There's one that is on my list which I have not purchased yet, but perhaps will soon.
It is
It is indeed the time to reflect upon and celebrate the Glorious Impossible!
A Celtic Christmas: Classic Tales from the Emerald Isle
Great list and some really good Christmas present ideas! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteThanks Jeff. Let me know if you'd like to look at any before you purchase. I also have several more I didn't write about. :o)
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